Filling in the Emptiness
by Lithe-Fider
Summary: Shino & Hinata fic. Kept very in character. Also w Kiba, Shibi Aburame, & my version of his mom. Shino reveals his feelings, & why he wears glasses, to Hinata...then she has to visit the Aburame clan...Starts off angsty, gets romantic by the end.
1. Only For you

This story takes place during and after the Bikōchū filler story arc from the Naruto anime (When Team 8 and Naruto went to find the Bikōchū bug so that it could find Sasuke by his smell).

I try to keep the characters pretty much in character. It's mostly from Shino's perspective in third person, but a little from the other characters too. I also write descriptively about Shino's kikaichu bugs, so if bugs freak you out, don't read it. Then again, if bugs freaked you out, why would you be reading a Shino fanfic anyway:P

Also, I sort of "created" Shino's mom (made a character design for her) for this story later on, because he's got his sexy dad, why not a sexy mom?

Enjoy.

**Filling in the Emptiness**

Disclaimer: I don't own Shino, Hinata, Kiba, Shibi, or any of the Naruto characters. I just borrow them on weekends.

Chapter 1 – Only for you.

"Letsss….GOoooo!"

Naruto ran energetically ahead on the path, just outside the massive gates of Konoha village.

After a few seconds he stopped and turned around, to see genin team 8 leisurely walking.

"WHY ARE YOU GUYS WALKING SO LAZILY! We have to find the bug before it hatches so we can find Sasuke!"

Shino began to wonder why he ever brought up the idea for the Bikōchū mission…he really would not have minded at all if the hokage had not made Naruto come along. Although not found of socializing, he had found he'd come to really like his teammates Kiba and Hinata.

Then he remembered… he brought up the subject of using the rare bug only because he saw how much Hinata wanted to help Naruto. She seemed so down ever since Naruto and their team failed in their mission to retrieve Sasuke. This whole mission was for her, and no one else, in Shino's mind. He could care less about the showoff, broody Sasuke.

Naruto ran back, passing the three, and then running again to catch up again.

"Shiinnoooo…." He whined, about to break into another speech about how they should hurry.

Shino felt his skin crawl at Naruto's whiney tone; literally. He silently ordered his hordes to not fly out and attack the source of the annoyance, and slowly but abruptly turned around to face him, the edge of his coat's high collar just at few centimeters from Naruto's nose; his dark glasses catching a gleam of the waning sunlight, "Naruto," He said in his low, very adult voice, "I am the leader of this mission, and you will do as I say while we are on it. Is that understood?"

Naruto felt a drop of sweat drip down his neck; he nervously smiled and stayed silent as Shino tuned back around and kept on walking. As Kiba and Hinata passed him he muttered in a broken voice, "Kiba, how can you stand being near him…?"

"_I heard that,"_ Shino thought to himself, slightly hurt.

"I'm sure you'll get along with him fine Naruto," Hinata said quietly as she passed him, not looking up.

…

They had been walking for hours when the sun finally dipped itself below the horizon, casting its setting colors across the forest path.

Shino stopped walking and so did everyone else behind him. Naruto gave him a weird look as they stood there for a few silent seconds.

"The sun is setting, we're stopping," Shino said. Used to this, Kiba and Hinata had no problem and calmly began to set up camp for the night. In the meantime, Naruto freaked out.

As they began getting ready to go to bed, Kiba laughed and pointed at the already asleep Naruto. "And HE was complaining about us going to sleep so early." Hinata smiled and blushed as she looked at the splayed out, sleeping boy. To an outsider viewing, one would think Shino indifferent, not being able to see any expression on his unchanging eyebrows, through his dark glasses or over his high collar.

But in reality, he was glancing at Hinata, with a sad twist of his mouth and lowering of his eyes. It had taken him a long time to realize it, after many years of being together with her and Kiba as a team, that he had feelings for her. He did not show it the way Sakua and Ino did, fighting and drooling over Sasuke, or even in the way Hinata showed her feelings for Naruto. He showed nothing on the outside, and what he did, with a softening of the eyes or a twitch of the lips, no one ever saw.

And so he would silently watch her trying to show her feelings to Naruto, who Shino could clearly see was too clueless and stupid to ever notice. He would sit by silently and do nothing.

"_I wonder if he'll even notice her if she shows him what she's been working on with us these past few months…" _Shino thought to himself.

Kiba nestled into his sleeping bag, cutely lying on his side with Akamaru lying in the crook of his chest. Hinata slowly stepped into her own sleeping bag, looking over at her two teammates. Shino lay flat on his back, still fully clothed and with his sunglasses on. There was no way to tell if he was asleep or not. Hinata tilted her head, and then lay down quietly, thinking as an aside to herself, "I wonder why he even wears his glasses to bed…"

…

…

Shino felt a jolt of activity beneath his skin, and his eyes snapped open. Something had stirred his kikaichu. He quickly looked around the tent with his eyes, not making any movements that would alert an onlooker to the fact that he was awake, in case they were under a stealth attack of enemy ninjas. He saw Hinata was not in her sleeping bag. He sighed in relief that it wasn't an intruder, and calmed the bothered writhing under his skin. _There's nothing to be afraid of, thanks for telling me though… _He silently said to his little minions in their own insect language. Then thought to himself, _"She didn't…"_

He knew at once she must have gone outside to train. She was perfecting her new technique, and had more and more often trained at night alone using water. He knew this because she had been coming to practice looking tired, and asked her why she was so worn out. She refused to answer at first, but when Shino asked again more firmly she told him what she was doing. Hinata rarely heard Shino ask about something so fervently, so she gave him the answer.

He just hoped she was careful, and would come back and get some sleep.

…

"_WAIT!"_ Shino opened his eyes again, and sat up silently. _"Where's Naruto?!" _He was shocked to see he was missing as well.

The writhing returned as he felt a wash small of anger swell over him. When any strong emotion came over Shino, the kikai bugs could feel the pulse of his chakra swelling with it, causing them to stir. The intense emotions brought with them strong flavor to the insects, as chakra changed flavors with varying emotion, some of which were spicy or hot; like anger or jealousy. It was why he trained himself to be so calm and control his feelings, it is a necessary part of being a bug-using clan member.

"_Is he, out there with her? Is he watching her…? Taking advantage of her…?"_ These worried thoughts raced though Shino's mind, and his mouth parted into an angry, clenched frown. It was not a common occurrence for Shino; letting his emotions get the better of him, and it surprised and bothered the kikai greatly.

A handful of kikaichu broke out of the skin of Shino's arm and crawled out from his left sleeve. He brought them up to his eye level, at first to scold them and try to calm them down…but then he got an idea. He ordered them to fly and find Hinata, and report back. The kikai bugs within him knew her smell well, and flew out of the tent to follow their host's orders.

…

They came back a few minutes later. Shino had laid back down, taken a few throbbing deep breaths, and gone back to being his usual collected self. The returning scouts crawled back under their master's skin the same way they had came. Upon hearing Hinata was actually on her way back and fine, Shino breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to go to sleep again, Hinata came back, trying to be as quiet as possible, and slipped into her sleeping bag. A minute later Naruto came, looking bewildered, and sleepy. From the looks of them, nothing happed, and Shino was again relieved, and finally went back to sleep.

…


	2. How Could You Ever

**Chapter 2 – How could you ever**

…

As for the mission itself…Shino did his best to block it out of his memory. It was a complete and utter failure. Naruto managed to find a Bikōchū bug, much to everyone's amazement, and catch it. However, three members of a rival bug-using clan to the Aburame's got in the way and had the nerve to capture Hinata, using her as ransom to hand over the beetle. In the end, the newly hatched Bikōchū ending up NOT smelling Sasuke's forehead protector, but…well…lets just say Naruto has a little Bikōchū following the seat of his pants around now.

The foursome was making their way home, disappointed at the failure of the mission. They were moving more quickly this time, darting through the trees leisurely like diving dolphins moving through the waves.

All Shino could think about was how the enemy's giant queen bee summon finally went down. Hinata showed her true strength and used her new move, the Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō, that he and Kiba had gruelingly helped her train to achieve these past few months. She molded her chakra around her to create a total defensive shield. Much like Neji's Hakkesho Kaiten total defense, except this one is Hinata's alone and not a move that any other Hyuga can do.

Naruto was going to dive out to help her, but Shino had held him back, "Believe in her" he said. "She did this to prove her strength to herself, to prove it to her father, and," He paused, closing his eyes, "And to prove her strength to you, Naruto."

Naruto was indeed amazed at Hinata's new move. After the enemy was defeated, she collapsed and he went to her, taking her in his arms, saying she was amazing and her new move was fantastic. She blushed and nuzzled his arm. Shino thought to himself, _"I am sure he didn't understand how incredibly happy she was at that moment."_

As they were darting in and out of the trees Shino saw that Hinata was still blushing, and looking at Naruto who was just ahead of them. He was so busy trying to see her expression that he hadn't noticed then sun had just set. When he finally did, it was only because Kiba alerted him to it. Kiba was very weirded out Shino hadn't called for them to stop when the sun began to set. He voiced for everyone to stop. Naruto complained again, and Shino was NOT in the mood.

"Nar…u…to," He said in a very scary, low tone, turning abruptly to face him, this time only centimeters from his face, so much so that if his glasses had not been pitch black he might have been able to see what was behind them. This alone was enough to shut him up and send him slinking to hide behind Kiba. He didn't even get to finish his "I am the leader of this mission" speech.

They set up a campfire this time, seeing there was no need to get up early to search for anything. Kiba broke out some marshmallows and began roasting them on young green saplings. Hinata tentatively took one and roasted it too. Naruto had about 10 of them on one branch, happily charring them to a crisp before eating them.

"You want to roast a marshmallow Shino?" Kiba grinned, showing off his fangy teeth. He already knew he would say no, but it was always worth a try to get some kind of reaction out of his seemingly emotionless teammate.

"No, I am alright," Shino answered, as expected.

"They're good! You're missing out Shino!" Naruto laughed, eating three at once.

"Really, I'm alright," Shino was actually sulking over the evening's events. He was quite assured that Naruto and Hinata would get together now. After what happened, and what he said to Naruto. Surely he'd put two and two together…

"S-Shino-kun, do you want me to make you one? Then you don't have to do anything…" Hinata said quietly, putting a new marshmallow on her stick.

Shino sat silent for a moment. To Hinata, he could be asleep for all she knew. However, unknown to her, his eyes and lips were contorted into an expression of longing and pain. He contemplated agreeing to her offer…but…what was the point. She saw it as nothing more than friendly gesture. It was not what Shino wanted. He had let it boil in him for far too long to take one more friendly gesture, disillusioning himself to think that maybe, just maybe she was blushing for him.

"_She is infatuated with Naruto, Shino. Nothing could ever bring her gaze away from him. He is energetic, strong, and, well, not bad looking," _Shino thought sadly to himself. He seriously needed to stop caring about her as more than just a teammate and friend…it was just easier said than done.

And for some reason, that one little marshmallow struck a chord in Shino. Everything from the past few years finally came to a head and crashed down on him like a wall of bricks.

"_She will never love you; and never ever would."_

He stood up, his head lowered and looking down at the campfire, the light from it flickering off his glasses.

Kiba looked up, "Shino…what is it?" Naruto and Hinata also blinked in surprise.

"Shino-kun?" Hinata said, looking up at him.

That did it, something in him snapped.

He jumped up suddenly with the speed and lightness of a cat into the tree canopy, darting onto a large tree branch that was above the rest of the foliage.

"What the- SHINO! WHERE ARE YOU GOING!" Kiba stood up and yelled at the darkness of the forest left behind him.

Hinata blinked in disbelief, "W…what…why did he…?"

"Did he see an enemy or something? I don't see Shino as the randomly-running-off type," Naruto said quickly, standing up.

"I have no idea…" Kiba muttered, "I've never seen him do that." Kiba smelled at the cool night air, "There is no one around…so it wasn't that."

"Should we go after him?" Naruto shot back.

"I dunno," Kiba looked down, then back up, sniffing the air once more, "He didn't go very far, I think he's just at the top of that tree there."

Hinata didn't know what to do, she was confused and worried about her teammate's unusual behavior. She looked up into the tree Shino had disappeared into.

Kiba sat back down after a pause, "Let him be for awhile I guess."

Naruto squinted in his usual closed-eye manner, "humm…I really don't get him."

Hinata looked down at the un-roasted marshmallow on her stick. She put it over the fire and slowly began to brown it. Kiba started to do the same with a new pair of marshmallows.

---

Shino breathed heavily, down on his hands and knees on the high branch. Every breath swelled up a tightness in his chest as his kikaichu bugs stirred at his quickly beating heart, overcome with the wash of emotion from what just happened. A few broke out from his neck, crawled up over the edge of his collar and across his face.

"_Goddamn it!"_ He thought to himself, _"What is wrong with you! Get a grip!"_

He lowered his head and breathed, catching himself. After a few minutes he was calm again, and sat down on the branch's edge, dangling his feet over the side. Some of the escaped Kikaichu explored the tree's large trunk, crawling up it. Shino silently called them back as they began to venture too far. They '_scree'ed'_ in a dissapointed tone, and flew over. They landed in his hair and slowly made their way back inside his jacket. Shino kept running his internal dialog through his head.

"_Why is it so hard to accept…don't you want her to be happy? She could never love you anyhow…because of what you are, what you look like…You probably, in reality, completely disgust her, she just doesn't want to say it. Even to this day you freak her out a littl-"_

"Shino-kun?"

Shino looked up, upon hearing a voice behind him. He turned just enough to see it was Hinata sitting on the branch just two feet from him, holding her marshmallow stick with a freshly browned puff at its tip. Any of his bugs that had broken free and not returned yet fluttered their way back under his coat and burrowed back under their master's skin.

There was a pause, as she saw he had some of his bugs out. She waited patiently for them to disappear under his coat before she broke the silence, when she slowly and quietly said, "Are you alright? … You scared everyone running away so suddenly. I…I brought you a marshmallow because you didn't eat anything and you don't want to go to bed hungry…it, well I know it gives me bad dreams." She smiled gently.

After a pause on Shino's behalf, he turned to face her head on. She held out the stick and he carefully reached out and took it.

"Thank you," He said calmly.

"…Your welcome."

"…"

"Y…you going to come back down?"

"…" Shino un-did the top snap of his jacket, so that his face was exposed; his collar splaying open slightly.

"It'll get cold…" Hinata said almost inaudibly.

He delicately took a bite of the marshmallow, and finished it in a few more. He then sat holding the stick in his hands, looking down at it. There was another long silence.

"Is something wrong?" Hinata said suddenly.

Shino did not want to lie, but he also did not want to make her worry.

"You did a good job, taking down that queen bee." he said at last, "You used your new move perfectly, you should be proud."

Hinata blushed, "Thank you, yes, it, it did work. And Naruto saw all of it, I…" She turned red, "I was so happy."

Shino frowned, forgetting his collar was down. Hinata instantly saw his changed expression, "Is something wrong Shino?"

Shino would have jumped in surprise if he were any other man, but being Shino he sat perfectly still, and replied quickly, "Nothing," … "You really love Naruto, don't you?"

Hinata blushed even more, putting her fingers together, "I umm….I…."

"Why shouldn't you, he's strong, good looking, popular, and energetic. I can't compete with that." Shino said lowly, looking at the darkness ahead of him in the forest.

"W…what…?" Hinata blinked.

"I said I can't compete with him," Shino could not believe what he was saying out loud, but it was just coming out, and he couldn't stop it, "You love him, you've always been infatuated with him for as long as I can remember...all the way back to when we first met as kids in the academy. There is no way you could notice anyone else who might like you. Even if they were right next you…all along." He lowered his head.

"Shino-kun…?" She looked confused, "What are you…saying?"

"I'm saying….that I like you…and I have liked you for a long time. But," He paused, "You could never like someone like me. Kiba is right when he calls me "Bug Freak", because that's what I am, and that's all I'll ever be to anyone when it comes down to it. And, I have to accept that."

Hinata could not believe what Shino was saying. It also had to be the most she had EVER heard him say at once. She tried to find words to say, but her shyness caught her and she could only mouth words, no sound escaping her lips. Shino went on, still looking away, his tone of voice slowly building from sorrow to anger. The flood gates had opened, and there as no stopping him now. Not his common sense, his calm nature, nor the rising pain of thousands of kikai bugs writhing under his skin.

"Because how could you ever," Hinata watched Shino's back, and could see his hands reach up and take off his glasses, "…like someone who looked like THIS." He turned around abruptly. Hinata gasped, and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Where Shino's eyes should have been was nothing more than dark, empty sockets. Behind them she could just barely make out in the moonlight dozens of kikai bugs teeming at the back of his eye sockets.

Fumbling backwards from the surprise of what he had done and what she saw...she forgot she was on a tree branch, and slipped off the edge.

Shino gasped, "Hinata!"

Hinata screamed, falling through the darkness, trying to grab a hold of ANYTHING to break her fall. But there was not a single branch within her reach.

From the forest floor hundreds of feet below Kiba and Naruto looked up; having heard the scream.

Shino reacted instantly; thrusting out his right arm over the edge of the branch, sending out thousands of kikaichu from the main openings on his arms. The long strand of massed kiaki bugs zoomed to their target and wrapped around Hinata's waist, catching her with a jerk. Shino nearly fell off the branch himself and braced his body with his other hand. He swung her up using the momentum from her fall; she grasped onto the edge of the branch, using her chakra to latch onto it. As Shino's bugs dispersed he quickly ran to her and helped her up. Both sat panting for a moment in shock and exhaustion. Hinata was so in shock that she forgot all about the hundreds of Kikai bugs crawling on her, most quickly making their way back to their host.

After a dead minute of silence, it was broken by Naruto and Kiba's screams from below,

"HOoooyY! HINATA! You okay!"

"HI-NA-TA! What's going on up there?"

"Arff arf!"

Hinata and Shino both looked up and met eyes, or at least Hinata's eyes met Shino's face where his eyes used to be. He looked both terrified and sorry at the same time. Hinata slowly reached out, shaking, and picked up his glasses.

"S…Shino-kun…you…"

"_My god, I'm a monster, what have I done….I nearly killed her..."_ Shino thought, stammering to himself in his head.

"S…Shino-kun…" Her milky eyes were welling up in tears for a whole range of emotions she could barely comprehend.

Shino stumbled backwards away from her.

He ran.

He didn't care where.

Just _AWAY_.

Hinata watched as Shino disappeared into the darkness. Just as he vanished from sight Naruto and Kiba landed on the branch next to her.

"Hinata, what happened?" Kiba shook her shoulder.

"Hinata…?" Naruto looked into her face, which was still staring blankly ahead in the direction which Shino ran.

"Errr….Rrrro-ow…" Akamaru half-purred / growled in worry.

"Hinata answer me, what happened? Where is Shino?" Kiba pushed Naruto aside and held both her shoulders, looking into her face.

She finally snapped out of it, and looked into Kiba's eyes, "H…he…" She looked down and unclasped her hands, revealing his glasses.

"Wha…are those Shino's sunglasses?!" Kiba yelped.

"No way! He took them OFF! Are you serious?" Naruto gasped.

Hinata nodded, and fell into Kiba's arms, limp. The overload of adrenaline finally washed out of her.

"Hinata," Kiba softly whispered, "geeze, what happened…" He shook his head.

"Must have been something intense, she's out of it," Naruto stood up.

Akamaru nuzzled and licked Hinata's face.

…


	3. All Along

**Chapter 3 – All Along**

The broken team 8 and Naruto settled in for the night. Kiba and Naruto had searched for Shino for about three hours before giving up and realizing he was nowhere to be found, and most likely did not WANT to be found. They agreed the best thing would be to get a good nights sleep, and head out early to get back to Konoha as quickly as possible to organize a search party to find him. Maybe he even went on ahead and would be home before them.

The next morning they zoomed through the trees towards Konoha as quickly as they could. Hinata was still holding Shino's sunglasses in her hand.

"Hoy, Hinata," Naruto smiled over at her, "You think I could see those for a second?"

Hinata thought about it for a minute, then blushed and handed them over. "P-Please be careful with them N-Naruto-kun…They are important to Shino…" She said gently.

"Yea yea, I will!" Naruto smile and took them from her outstretched hand.

Kiba was just ahead of them. He was suddenly startled by Naruto zooming up past him to his side, "HEY KIBA! Check me out!" He put his hands in his pockets and ducked his head into his collar, "I'm Shino!"

"Nar-U-t-O!" Kiba yelped at him, "Take those off! They ain't yours! Shino would KILL you if you broke them!"

"Aweee, you're no fun," Naruto sighed, but still was wearing the shades.

"I mean it Naruto," Kiba frowned.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Hoy hoy….alright," He took them off and handed them to Kiba.

Kiba raised and eyebrow, "That's better."

Hinata came up along side Kiba, "I, I'll hold onto them…" she blushed. She didn't want anything to happen to them.

"Hinata?" Kiba blinked, surprised at her forthrightness. He handed them back to her, and she kept them in her hands as they continued on home.

They arrived back in Konoha by mid afternoon. Sadly, they reported back to Hogage Tsunade-sama about the failure of the mission, only to be surprised that she already knew.

"How?" They all questioned.

"I got word from Aburame Shibi that Shino had returned separate from you three. He told me all about the mission from what Shino told him." Tsunade laid her head on her clasped hands.

"Oh…well, that's good then…" Kiba breathed a sigh of relief, "We were worried he had completely run off."

"What HAPPENED? It's not like him at all to do something like that."

"We have no idea, Hinata was the last one to talk to him," Naruto and Kiba looked over at her. She blushed profusely and looked down at her fingers.

"Hinata, what happened?" Tsunade-sama said sternly but softly.

"It….he….ummm…." She could only stutter.

Tsunade-sama sighed with annoyance and sunk back into her chair, "It's okay, I'll let you rest from missions for a few days, but please make sure you tell me later, okay? This kind of behavior is not smiled upon in the Konoha shinobi. As for you Naruto, I have another mission for you."

"WHHaaaaa! Why do they get to rest and I have to do another mission right away?!" He complained, freaking out considerably.

"Their teammate obviously is in some kind of trouble, and they need to work it out. You on the other hand," She dug through her desk for a mission scroll.

As Hinata and Kiba were walking out of the Hokage's office they could hear Naruto screaming about getting ANOTHER D-rank mission. They giggled a little and walked off to the streets below.

"Whew, I'm beat," Kiba sighed as they walked, "At least it's a beautiful afternoon."

"Yes…that's true," She smiled meekly.

Kiba paused, then said, "Hey, maybe we should go see how Shino is, and return his glasses. I'm sure he misses them," Kiba grinned.

"You mean…visit his clan's home? W…we've never been there."

"That's true, he is usually the one that comes and gets **us** in the morning for training, haha!" Kiba looked down at the sunglasses in Hinata's grasp, "hey…you think…I could try them out too?" He smiled. Akamaru grinned.

"Kina-kun!" She blushed and yelped at once.

"Oh come'on! I'll be more careful than Naruto with them!" He grabbed them from her and promptly put them on. He laughed, "Wow, they really don't make anything THAT much darker...but still, at night you'd think they'd be annoying,"

Hinata looked down at her fingers, "I…I guess."

Kiba looked over at her, still wearing the glasses, "What happened up there, Hinata? You can tell me you know, I won't tell anyone."

"Well, I…" She stuttered, "I saw Shino without his glasses on…"

"So you really DID see his face huh? Woah…" Kiba grinned again widely, "What did he look like, did he have like little kid eyes or something? Were they like crazy and glowing radioactively?"

"N…no, nothing like that."

"Well what then?"

"…"

Kiba's playful expression faded as she walked silently looking at her fingers.

"Hey," He said about as sincerely as Kiba can, "It's okay, you don't need to tell me…I don't want to force you or anything if you don't want to…." He paued, then his normal playful voice came back, "…even if I am deathly curious what Shino looks like!"

Hinata smiled meekly, "Thanks Kiba."

Kiba stopped, and so did Hinata when she saw him do so. She looked up to see the mark of the Inuzuka clan on an archway above her head.

"Want some dinner?" Kiba motioned for her to follow.

"O…oh, sure!" She ran after him.

As Hinata was trying to eat her dinner at the table with Kiba and his mother and sister ('trying' the key word because Hana's three dogs kept begging at her feet for scraps) she wondered to herself if Shino was all right. In fact, she surprised her self at how much she had thought about him since what happened the night before.

"_Shino, said that he liked me, maybe even, that he loves me…" _She thought to herself, poking at the perfectly char-grilled steak in front of her. Kiba was making short work of his own piece of meat, _"How long has he….and…this whole time I've really liked Naruto, and I STILL like him, but…he never notices me, he's so loud and I' m so quiet…but Shino-kun, he…he acknowledged me, he NOTICED me. And…I was doing to him what Naruto was doing to me. He must feel the same way I do…" _

She met eyes with Kiba's mother in her thinking.

"What's the matter dearey, don't like it? Too rare?" She said gruffly but very motherly.

Hinata blushed, "I- no! It's fine! I…was…thinking," She quickly went back down to her steak and took a big bite, nearly choking.

"Hey, Hinata, don't wolf your food, that's what mother always tells me!" He laughed, giving a piece to Akamaru.

Hinata swallowed, then looked up at him, "Kiba…I know what we're doing tomorrow."


	4. Sunrise

**Chapter 4 – Sunrise**

Aburame Shibi stood on top of the massive wall that surrounded the city of Konoha. His hands in the large pockets of his dusty tan, high-collared jacket. The wind caught the beads dangling from the left side of his dark glasses, causing them to jingle slightly. His clan, the Aburame clan of bug using shinobi, was located at the edge of the wall on the far east side of the city, specifically to have quick access to the dense, eastern forest. However, for Shibi, he personally enjoyed the location because of the unadulterated view of the rising sun you could get from the wall's top.

He had made it a weekly habit / promise to himself to wake up early enough to see the sun rise. Because he saw everything through the eyes of his kikaichu insects, whose eyes actually see the same as humans, except much keener and with the inclusion of the infrared and ultraviolet parts of the color spectrum, the sunrise was far more spectacular than when viewed by a normal human.

As the sunlight finally broke over the treetops, he smiled beneath his tall collar.

"An especially beautiful sunrise today, eh?" a deep, sensual women's voice said from next to him.

He looked over to see his wife, Aburame Kaho. She sat with one leg dangled over the wall's edge, and the other drawn up against her body with her hands clasped around it. Her long, light-earthen-red colored coat splayed out behind her. Her inner jacket's collar was not as large or tall as most Aburame's, as it was almost snug against her neck, rising to a flared top that came up over the tip of her chin. A large summon-jutsu scroll was clasped to her upper back by a small shoulder harnesses.

"Ah," Shibi agreed quietly in response, looking back to the view in front of them.

Kaho turned her head to look up at him; her slanted sunglasses, reminiscent of a praying mantis's eyes, catching a gleam off the sunlight, "Do you think they succeeded in their mission?" She asked.

"Doubtful, but I have faith in Shino and their team."

She looked back to the forest below. "I feel the same way."

After a few more minutes of silence, something rustling not too far off in the trees caught their attention. A figure was jumping through the branches. Kaho instantly stood, her tall, lithe figure standing 7 inches taller than her husband's.

"You see that?"

"Yes, it's a ninja," Shibi took his hands out of his pockets. He knew it was most likely an enemy spy, why else would a lone ninja be coming at the city from this far side? Shibi and Kaho both flexed their arms outwards, causing their sleeves to draw back slightly, preparing to release their kikaichu if necessary.

As the figure drew closer, they saw the familiar shape of an Aburame clan jacket. They lowered their hands and relaxed. It was Shino.

"Why is he alone?" Shibi questioned, furrowing his brow more than it usually was.

Kaho frowned slightly too, worried.

Shino jumped as high as he could off the last tree closest to the wall, and shot out two long strands of kikai bugs from his arms, grasping onto the top edge of the wall. Using his Chakra to stick his feet to the wall he climbed up to the top, where Shibi and Kaho backed away to give him room.

Head bowed and eyelids closed, he stood up, slightly out of breath. He wad not surprised to see them up on the wall, as it was a common hangout for many of the clan members, but he wished they had not been there that one morning. He just wanted to slink back to his room unnoticed and alone.

His parents instantly noticed his glasses were gone.

"Shino, what happened? Where is your team?" his father asked sternly. He was actually quite worried, worried about the unushal-nes of Shino's behavior enough for it to turn into a seeming form of anger.

"And where are your glasses?" Kaho said in the same tone, but with the expected hint of motherly worry.

Shino stood silent for a few long seconds, the last of his kikai bugs flying back into his sleeves, "The mission was a failure, but everyone is alright. I went on ahead, the others should be back this evening," he paused, looking up and opening his eyes to see his parents looming over him. The sight of a sunglass-less Aburame to another was nothing shocking, in fact many of the bug-using members of the clan didn't wear them around their homes.

"I am sorry," he shook his head, "Can I go lie down, I will explain everything later."

Shibi shook his head disapprovingly, his arms crossed, but you could tell he was going to let the tired boy go anyway. Kaho's frown softened, but still held, "Go, but we will be expecting a _full_ explanation later."

Shino nodded, and jumped down into the Aburame clan stronghold below. He darted into the window of his room and flopped down on his bed. He felt drained, and wished he could just disappear.

Kaho sighed, "At least everyone is okay, but I still wonder what happened…"

"It must have been serious, he looks really shaken, and for him to run away from his team like that…"

"…yes, not like him at all."

Shibi turned his head to look at her, putting his hands back into his pockets, "I'll question him when he wants to talk."

"Are you sure? I bet he'd feel more relaxed talking to me, you can be a little stern at times with situations similar to this,"

"Are you calling me a bad father?" Shibi raised an eyebrow and smirked. The comment was in obvious jest.

Kaho smiled, knowing he was playing with her "Not at all dear, you're a wonderful father to our boy, just go easy on him, alright? I have never seen him like this."

Shibi nodded, and Kaho jumped back down below.

He stayed behind for a moment, taking one last look at the sun rising higher in the sky, the colors of the sunrise quickly fading.

…

…

((Author's Note: If you have ever seen the American dub of Digimon Tamers, I imagine her voice like Renamon's. X3 ))

((And yes, Kaho is MASSIVE. Since Shibi is 5' 11", that would make her 6' 6". I guess Shibi likes tall girls. :D And if you like how I portray Shino's mom and dad I strongly recommend my other fic: Aburame Ichizoku. (shameless self-plug laugh )))


	5. Maybe, Just Maybe

**Chapter 5 – Maybe, just maybe**

"Kiba…I know what we're doing tomorrow."

That was last night, and what Hinata said to Kiba across the dinner table in about as assured a voice as Hinata could muster. She then had informed him she would visit Shino at his place, alone, but still wanted Kiba to accompany her to the clan archway.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you inside? I am actually kinda curious…I can't believe neither of us have EVER been inside Shino's clan." Kiba mused.

"That's….that's okay Kiba-kun," she blushed, "I want to…" she poked her fingers together, "…do it myself."

Kiba looked seriously over at Hinata. She had gotten so bold (for Hinata) over their years as a team together. She had become more confident in herself. She still had a long way to go, but after her harsh training she inflicted upon herself, and her performance on the last mission, she was obviously a different person. She was much more grown up from when they first met. And Kiba was proud of her for that, and he was sure Shino was too.

"Tch," he smirked, starting to form ideas about what happened that night Shino disappeared, "I still don't know what happened between you and the bug-freak but - "

"Don't call him that!" She burst out. After she did it and realized what she said, and how loud, she blushed profusely and looked at the ground.

Kiba blinked, surprised beyond measure at how forcefully she just yelled at him. "Ummm, okay, sorry Hinata," he smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head, "I didn't know that my nickname for Shino offended you. I don't mean it in a cruel way or anything…I just like the look he gives me when I call him that!" He jested.

"I know….I…I'm sorry, it just came out."

There was an awkward silence for a long time, until Kiba spoke up, "Hey, this must be it!"

They looked up to see a weathered clan archway inscribed with the kanji for "Aburame". Behind two doorway cloths decorated with sumi-ink paintings of various insects were 8-foot tall, closed bamboo doors. Next to them hung two large, jingle-style bells attached to a _shimenawa_ style rope with some _gohei_ hanging off the top (those little zigzag-shaped paper streamers).

"Must be…" She agreed.

Kiba looked at the closed doors, "That's odd, most clans keep their doors open during the day. I guess they are a private clan, just from the vibe I get from Shino!" He laughed.

"Umm," she nodded.

"And I bet everyone on this side of town wouldn't want their bugs flying out of here and all over too, huh?" He said obviously joking, because the doors wouldn't stop bugs at all.

"Should, we knock?" Hinata said.

"I guess ring the bell," he walked up to the large red/white rope, "Should I?"

Hinata nodded, and Kiba shook the rope.

Kiba stepped back to be next to Hinata again. They waited about 30 seconds and then the doors creaked open jut enough for a figure to step out. They didn't recognize who it was, but they were obviously an Aburame, with dark sunglasses and a high-collar jacket.

The man wore a black, button-up jacket, and long, flowing dusty red pants that faded out to tan that almost completely covered his feet, which were bare. His poofy red-black-brown hair was in a high ponytail, and his slanted sunglasses a slight tint of dark red, and mirrored, making them just as impossible to see through as Shino's glasses. He seemed to be in his early 20's, as he was adult height but still seemed youthful in dress and apperance. Their only indication to him being a boy (as he looked father feminine) was when he spoke, "May I ask who is calling?" He asked, his voice neither deep nor girly, but obviously male.

Hinata blushed and all the courage ran out of her. Kiba swallowed, slightly intimidated, and bowed quickly "I, umm, I mean Hyuuga Hinata came to see Shino, is he here?"

Hinata didn't look up, but the stranger stared at her, bending over slightly. This let Kiba see over the edge of his high collar, revealing the dark red, swirly tattoos on his cheeks and lips, and only on the left side of his face. "I believe he is," The Aburame paused, then straightened up, "You're his teammates aren't you?"

Kiba smiled, "Yup, that's us! I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and this is Akamaru,"

"Arf!"

The figure drew back slightly from Akamaru, but didn't back away, "Follow me then," he began to walk back towards the cracked open bamboo doors. Hinata paused for a moment, then shakily ran after him.

The second she was inside the doors slowly began to close, seemingly on their own. She looked up to see a large grouping of kikai bugs shutting the door. Turning back around she could see them returning to the figure that had greeted them, who was walking away from her, "I'll inform Shino's family," he said, not looking back, "Please wait here, and don't worry, none of the insects here will hurt you." He seemed to smile gently, but Hinata couldn't see his face so she could not be sure.

Hinata stood spellbound by what she saw. She was standing in a large, grassy grove of various species of trees, from hemlocks to large oaks. About 200 feet in the distance she could see buildings, which she assumed must be everyone's apartments and houses. Gardens of flowers and vegetables were sectioned off near the edges of the wall. Everywhere, on the trees and the plants, must have been hundreds of species of insects and arachnids. She could spot at a glance beetles, butterflies, praying mantis, grubs, spiders, and caterpillars. She was especially entranced by the butterflies, that were in every color imaginable. They were mostly on the flowers that were here, there, and in the gardens. There were also some nets held up by wood frames in one area, and inside them she could see many insects.

Between two trees to her left, she noticed a figure lying in a hammock. They had on a muted-purple jacket, which almost blended in with the purple flowers in the garden behind them. She blinked, and turned back forwards again to find a woman's face disturbingly close to hers. Hinata had not heard her walk up nor sensed her. She stumbled backwards in surprise, "Wahhh!" and fell on her butt.

The woman laughed as one would at a cute, young child trying to do something they were obviously too small or young to do, "You alright?"

Hinata was offered the woman's hand, and she took it and was helped up. The blue haired girl blushed, getting her first good look at the tall figure. Hinata thought she was a very beautiful woman. Her eyes were covered bydark, slanted sunglasses that reminded her slightly of the eyes of a praying mantis.

"Sorry to startle you. I heard you were here for Shino, you can come with me," She smiled and turned. Hinata jumped forward to walk along side her. However, after only a few steps, the woman stopped, and looked at the figure in the hammock, "Yesetteru-chan!" She yelled forcefully.

The person in the hammock, startled, causing them to tilt and turn over, falling onto the ground. "_Itttaiiii_…" she yelped.

"Sleeping on the job again?"

"N…no mam," the girl stood up, she seemed to be not much older than Hinata. She also wore sunglasses.

"Well get to work, or I'll tell your father and mother you were being lazy again," She smirked.

"I will!" She put her hand up and ran off towards the nets Hinata saw earlier.

The woman shook her head and laughed quietly to herself, "That girl, always sleeping on the job."

Hinata looked up at her, mustering up some courage "_Ano_, w…what is your name?"

The woman returned the glance, turning her dark glasses down towards her, "My name is Aburame Kaho, I am Shino's mother."

Hinata blushed even more, this time from embarrassment, _"Falling on your butt for a first impression to Shino's mother…nice job Hinata,"_ She thought to herself.

"I..I am Hyuuga Hinata, good to meet you," She bowed.

"Hyuuga Hinata! Ah, well, then you are most welcome. It is nice to finally meet one of Shino's teammates," She bowed very slightly, which surprised Hinata, "Tesuro didn't say WHO was at the gates, just that they were here for Shino. He has a bad habit of not TELLING people important details." She continued walking, and Hinata followed.

"Y…you have a very beautiful clan," She smiled.

"Thank you. We do our best to keep it in order. Not many people come in here, so few see it. We only open the doors to the public during the Spring Festival . Our clan is very private and we like to keep to ourselves, but also because people are afraid."

Hinata nodded, not knowing what to say in response.

They passed the girl from before, who was inside one of the nets "W…what is she doing?" Hinata quietly asked.

"She's collecting the mature and dying scarab beetles, we use them in medicines."

"Oh…"

They waked up to the door of a house made from unpainted redwood. Kaho opened the door and Hinata continued to follow. Inside, Kaho motioned to the stairs, "First door on the right," She paused, looking serious, "I hope you clear things up." She walked away and into the next room.

Hinata swallowed, and went to walk up the stairs when she heard a deep voice behind her, "Who are you?" She turned instantly and was again surprised by another pair of dark glasses, and fell on her butt.

"Oh, it's you. I'm sorry, I did not recognize you from the back," He watched as she quickly got up, blushing like mad, "I am Aburame Shibi…and you better have Shino's glasses."

She nodded, _"Fell on your butt for his dad too… XD …nice one Hinata…"_ taking them out of her pocket, "I …I do, I was…just going to go upstairs."

He paused for a moment, "Alright then, get going," he turned and walked off in the same direction Kaho went.

Before she ran into any more Aburames / falling on her butt again, she scampered up the stairs and stopped in front of Shino's door. After hesitating, she very gently knocked.

"Come in," A voice from inside said.

She very carefully opened the door and peeked inside.

Shino sat on the bed facing away from her, "I said come in," Hinata was surprised to see him not wearing his usual gray jacket. Instead he was only wearing a black, short-sleeve button up shirt. Hinata stepped all the way inside and shut the door behind her. A grouping of glass tanks that had many types of insects in them caught her eye. They sat on shelves covering the left wall.

Hinata was too scared and nervous to speak. She was sure Shino was mad at her. Unfortunately, Shino thought the exact same thing of her. After what seemed like a eternity of silence, Hinata looked at the sunglasses in her hand, and gained up enough courage to speak, "S…Shino-kun… I brought you back your glasses." She stepped forward just enough to lay them on the bed next to him.

He picked them up, putting them back in their respective place on his face. Slowly standing he turned to look at her.

"I…I am sorry for my behavior before on the mission…it was uncalled for." He lowered his head slightly.

The familiar sight of Shino with his glasses on relaxed Hinata, "No, it's alright! I'm n-not angry…" she said quietly, and poking her fingers together, "you were…just being truthful, and that's good."

"I nearly killed you," He said sadly.

"I was just surprised!" She looked up with a sudden burst of vigor, "I wasn't scared of you, you just…turned around so suddenly and I've never seen your face before. That alone was surprising enough."

Shino's expression softened, as if he was saying, _"You mean it?"_ but not with words.

She reached up her hand, hesitated, then laid her fingers onto the rim of his glasses, taking them off gently. She blushed and quietly smiled, "You…have unusual eyes, just like me."

Shino's face showed an emotion of happiness that is the kind you look like you're about to cry from. He smiled very genuinely, and Hinata found she liked it.

"I don't scare you?"

"When I…first met you back in the academy you did, a little. I think all the girls were, knowing about your clan," She smiled nervously, "I was a kid, and didn't understand or know you at all...but then I _did_ get to know you. You were a little different, but were kind and respectful, more than anyone I know. And now, we've worked together as a team for so long - you, me and Kiba…" Her smile turned to happiness, "and I've really grown being with you. I feel like a different person."

Hinata had really surprised herself over the last few days. Her emotions were so mixed up inside her. She had considered Shino before, his mysterious and quiet nature had attracted her since the start, as well as his intelligence, strength, and caring for animals. However, he always seemed so emotionless, cold, and distant. Like a piece of art behind a glass case, untouchable, and unattainable. So strong feelings for him had never really surfaced in her. But now, after his confession of love for her, and him revealing his true self to her…

"Come outside with me," he broke the silence, reaching out and taking her hand.

…

Shibi look up from his mission reports, hearing footsteps coming down the stairs. He saw Hinata led by Shino darting out the front door.

"Those two," he glanced at Kaho, sitting across from him, "you think they…?"

"Maybe, just maybe," Kaho smiled knowingly, "you heard what Shino said before, when you had him explain what really happened on the mission."

"He really does love her," Shibi smiled beneath his collar, and Kaho could tell without even being able to see it.

"I wonder if she feels the same way," she took a long look at the jarred open front door.


	6. Maybe You Could

**Chapter 6 – Maybe you could**

"Stand still, and I'd tell you to be gentle and quiet, but you already do that very nicely," Shino let go of her hand and smiled (Smiling for Shino would be considered a generally pleasant face on anyone else).

Hinata watched as he preformed a few hand seals, and put up his hands, fingers outstretched. Almost invisible lines of chakra flowed from his fingers in a spider-web-like pattern. Within a few seconds, butterflies from every nearby leaf and flower looked up and came fluttering over. They all congregated on Hinata, landing lightly on her hair and shoulders so within a minute, when Shino put down his hands, there must have been at least 35 of them on her of all colors and sizes.

Hinata blinked, a little surprised, but entranced at the same time. One that had landed on her hair lock that went near her face tickled her cheek with its royal blue wings. She held up her hand and looked at a monarch butterfly that had landed on her fingers.

"They like you," Shino said quietly.

"But you did a jutsu, didn't you?"

"I did, but after I released it most should have flown away, but they stayed. That means they like you."

She blushed and her lips pursed into an embarrassed smile.

"Butterflies, as well as all these other insects, like to stay here in this grove because there is a special justu technique on this area that deters all animals except insects and arachnids. They know predators can't get them here…except for their fellow preying insects and spiders."

Hinata was listening to him, but still admiring the butterfly on her finger. Shino put up his hand and the butterfly she was inspecting fluttered away over to Shino's outstretched finger. Hinata watched and follow it with her eyes, "Can you talk to all insects?"

"Most, yes," He replied.

"But I never hear you say anything…"

"It's not a very loud language…like how Kiba talks to Akamaru, dogs have such a noisy way of communicating."

Just after he finished talking a large praying mantis fly over and landed on Hinata's head, going after one of the butterflies for a meal. Hinata startled and moved at the feel of his more heavy weight and prickly leg tips, and all the butterflies on her scattered flying up at all at once. The praying mantis also took his leave with his prize.

"W…what was that?" She said.

Shino was amused at her startling from just a praying mantis landing on her, "Just a praying mantis, looking for his dinner."

"Oh…" She blushed and smiled nervously, "I scared all the bugs away…"

"It's okay; I was surprised how long they stayed…" He put up his hand and the monarch on it flew away after his brethren.

Hinata took a step closer to him, "T…thank you…that was very pretty…" she said in reference to all the butterflies.

"Your welcome. … They are everyone's favorite insect I think, because of their beauty."

"I…I bet you think all insects are beautiful, don't you?"

"That's not the only thing I find beautiful," he looked right into her eyes. Even though Shino had no eyes himself, she could exactly where he was looking. It was a little strange for Hinata, staring into the blank eye sockets where Shino's eyes used to be, but then again she herself seemed to almost have all white eyes, with the iris of them just barely defied by a slight hazy purple color. Even after this short time seeing him without his glasses, she was almost completely used to it, and the darkness of his eyes attracted her on some sort of primal level; it was mysterious and dangerous.

Hinata turned red, "Umm…I…"

He took her right hand and leaned over slightly, bringing it up to his lips and gently kissing it. Hinata was so embarrassed, but also extremely flattered, and could do nothing but lean in and fall against him, putting her arms behind him in a soft hug. Shino leaned his head on top of hers, returning the hug gently. Both of them closed their eyes and listened to the wind blowing through the leaves, the singing crickets in the grass, and the cicadas on the tree trunks.

The stood like that, silently listening to nature around them, for a length of time they both completely lost track of.

…

…

…

It was just turning to dusk, and Kiba sat drawing doodles in the dirt with a stick, his back leaned up against the Aburame clan's wall, just to the right of its front doors. Akamaru chased some of the first fireflies of the evening, catching some now and then and eating them.

"Akamaru!" he yelped, "don't eat those!"

"Arrf arf!"

"Ewww….I have no idea how you think they taste good…but fine…knock yourself out…" He sighed and scratched out the crappy picture he drew, "I wonder what is taking her so long…" he mused to himself.

Akamaru walked over, sniffing at Kiba's hand, "Errr…rrow," he voiced.

"I know I know…I hope they're okay too, I'd hate to have them fighting or anything. We'll be a team again, I am sure of it Akamaru," he ruffled and patted his head playfully, "And we'll wait right here until they BOTH come out."

…

…

…

Hinata opened her eyes, to see the light had dimmed around them, and there were hundreds of fireflies emerging from the trees and grass. She looked up to see Shino also looking down at her, an expression of peaceful joy on his face. Suddenly, she made a worried expression, "Oh no, Kiba!" she put her hand up to her mouth, "He is waiting outside!"

Shino blinked, "O…oh!" he nodded, and they released each other.

"He wanted to make sure we had 'made up'…" she said gently.

"Wait here, I'll get my jacket," he said to her.

"Oh!" she ran after him just as he was turning to go, "here," she handed him back his glasses, "I seem to…be good about stealing them from you."

He pursed his eyelids and turned his mouth into a very subtle smirking expression, and kissed her forehead before turning right back around towards his house.

Hinata blushed gently and touched her forehead where he had kissed it_, "I…I don't know if I can get used to being so loved, I've been ignored for so long by my crush for Naruto, it's like I'm dreaming"_ she smiled widely to herself, putting her hands up to her cheeks.

As she waited for Shino's return she marveled at all the fireflies. There must have been twenty times more than she had ever seen before in any part of the village or forest, even at the peak of summer. Lots of them were grouping over and around a small pound she had overlooked that lay off to her left a few yards away. She looked back towards Shino's house to see him returning, in his usual grey, high-collared coat (hands in pockets of course) and dark glasses on his face.

"Sorry to make you wait," he said.

"It's alright," she reached out and took his right hand from it's pocket and clasped it firmly, "…let's go."

Shino was surprised at her forthrightness. All the same he blushed at her taking his hand and they both walked out towards the front gate, a trail of fireflies following them like stray puppies.

…

…

…

Kiba sat nearly falling asleep, a bored Akamaru nudging his leg. Just as he was about to fall asleep and fall over, he was awoken by Akamaru's bark and the sound of opening, large bamboo doors. He looked up, instantly alert, to see Shino and Hinata. They walked over and stood over him.

"What took you so long.." Kiba groaned, standing up quickly. He looked at Shino, "You okay man?"

"I 'm fine, I am very sorry for my behavior, it was nothing you did nor was I mad at any of you." He said to Kiba.

"That's good, nice to have you back!" He patted his shoulder grinning, "don't freak me out like that again, or I'll kick your ass next time."

To Kiba it only looked like he emotionlessly nodded, but Hinata looked over and could clearly see he was smirking with a "yea right" expression. She giggled.

"Huh?" Kiba looked at Hinata.

"N…nothing…" she poked her fingers together.

"Well lets' go, I'm starving!" Kiba walked on ahead, "definitely meat ramen tonight, eh Akamaru?"

"Arrrf arf!"

They walked slowly after the energetic Kiba, eager to get his dinner. Hinata leaned over onto Shino with a small pouncing motion, grasping onto his crooked elbow made from his hands being back in their usual place inside his pockets.

"That excited about Ramen?" He jested.

"Not really," she smiled gently, looking up at him.

"Me neither."

She reached up, pulling down his collar, which caused Shino to lean over slightly so his face was on level with hers. She kissed him, leaning into him, and then drew back blushing like mad, clutching back into his arm as she was before. Even though the kiss lasted only 2 seconds, it was incredibly soft and still lingered on Shino's lips. Hinata glanced up to see Shino's face turning a slight shade of red.

"Why are you guys so SLOW?" Kiba turned around and yelled at them, from over 20 feet down the street ahead of them. He blinked and did a double take at the sight of them walking, together, Hinata on Shino's arm. He tilted his head_, "O…oh my are they…"_ He grinned like mad, "Okay you two love bugs, come'on, I'm hungry!" He darted on ahead even more.

"K…KIiiiBA –KUnnN!" Hinata turned red and ran after him. Shino shook his head at Kiba, _"Great, so this is what I have to look forward to on our future missions_…"

As the last of the sunlight faded, the evening insect chorus came to its full peak. A passerby would be able to just hear the sounds of youthful laughter. Shino ran after Hinata, who was chasing the giggling Kiba, blushing like mad and trying to hit him playfully. Akamaru barked as if laughing. Shino smiled beneath his tall collar, because truly, he didn't care.

He'd take all the teasing in the world…because Hinata loved him.

((Author: Wow, all finished! A happy ending, that's nice for a change. I hope you enjoyed it. ))

((UPDATE Aug. 29 2006 - I have started writing a sequel to this, and have at least the first three chapters of it up so check out my other fics and read "Blinded by Your Eyes" if you want to read onward with more Shino and Hinata romance. ))


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